John Deere diesel turbos (Borg Worner) used on gas motors? Lots of questions

[CustomChevyGuy]

So my buddy has 3 John Deere diesel turbos (made by Borg Worner) sitting in his garage. Two of them look brand new and have no play whatsoever. We've never really messed with boost. I asked another buddy and he said that since they are diesel turbos, they can't be used or converted to work on standard gas motors.

The friend that has them said he called Borg Worner, and was told that typically they offer $500 core credits for their turbos. However after they looked up the model, they said since they hadn't sold any in the last few months, they weren't interested in buying them back. The tag reads RE502643 S2BW184

I have done a bit of searching, and it seems like a few people have used these for gas applications, but none of them seem to fully explain what they did, or how and why. The only thing they all seem to say is to worry about is the fact that gas motors will spool the turbos faster then the diesel motors would due to higher RPM ranges.

Can anyone shed some light on this? Is it possible to use these on our gas motors? or could it be converted for use on a 454 bbc??

[Botan]

a turbo is a turbo. they are all the same. some have internal wastegates where some require an external wastegate. just have fun getting it to mount onto a manifold. but there is nothing saying you can't take a turbo off a diesel and put it on a gasoline engine. i had an hx35 off of a cummins on a 92 mustang 2.3T a few years ago.

[Koots]

That's a big ol turbo for that little 2.3!

I doubt she was anywhere near stock though :D

[6.0 Bowtie HD]

Well I'm sorry that I have nothing to offer in this topic but subd in for future awesomeness.

[Koots]

I can't help you on specifics, but I can tell you that you might want to have a look at the Holset VGT turbo from the later model cummins diesels. You can get them and their controller for less than $300 used quite easily last time I checked. Might be hard to adapt to your truck but it's a big turbo that can act small or big depending on a variety of factors.. So It would make for an awesome DD turbo and won't disappoint on hard runs.

[CustomChevyGuy]

very interesting responses, i will keep you posted as/if this progresses :looking:

[BilletC98]

Any progress on this? I am interested in what the outcome may be... subbed.

[CustomChevyGuy]

nothing going on this project right now. ive been picking up some jobs on the weekends and now trying to fight a cold, not to mention reparing my computer (borrowed my moms laptop)..

will keep posted